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Zep

Moderator
Messages
9,110
I think all the points here are valid. I see my role as a mod to be as inclusive as I can, answer everyones questions and where necessary then take it offline for more detailed stuff. It is this that brought me into the community and what I want to give back.

I think he main area of change has been the banter. We still do a lot of the tech stuff on the forum and advertise gatherings etc, but the banter part has moved to WA because it can be a little more direct.

I think the regional approach has a lot of merit. If we do things like events and get togethers in each locality there can be members who are organisers. They can be engaged with their local Indy or dealer, arrange get togethers, coffee mornings for chewing the fat.

Perhaps we need to do one of those survey monkey surveys of the membership, to get a steer on what people most use the forum for and what area's can be improved.
 

Felonious Crud

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
21,017
Good topic! Are there any young people who could advise..?

I've noticed the same decline in contributions from some of the old faces. Prior to and post-Le Mans it really seemed to drop off, and I've no doubt that the MOB (and perhaps other) WA group chats are absorbing what would otherwise be traffic here. Certainly, some of the content on WA is less self-moderated, which is fine, but my own experience tends to be that the content goes way beyond the initial topic (e.g. Le Mans) and the group takes over from the social side of SM. Trying to force people to use SM over WA wouldn't work, and loyalty to this forum is trumped by the simplicity of posting to a known group on WA in a forum which is not public and will never be seen by spouse or employer.

All I can suggest is that the "single-use" WA groups (LM, MOB etc) are set up closer to the date and shut down soon after. Anyone who wants to set the group up months in advance can be discouraged and, presumably, GDPR regs would restrict sharing of contact details for all attendees anyway.

PS - Catman - you can get a WA app for your laptop. Works perfectly nicely, too.
 

FF1078

Member
Messages
1,123
Good topic! Are there any young people who could advise..?

I've noticed the same decline in contributions from some of the old faces. Prior to and post-Le Mans it really seemed to drop off, and I've no doubt that the MOB (and perhaps other) WA group chats are absorbing what would otherwise be traffic here. Certainly, some of the content on WA is less self-moderated, which is fine, but my own experience tends to be that the content goes way beyond the initial topic (e.g. Le Mans) and the group takes over from the social side of SM. Trying to force people to use SM over WA wouldn't work, and loyalty to this forum is trumped by the simplicity of posting to a known group on WA in a forum which is not public and will never be seen by spouse or employer.

All I can suggest is that the "single-use" WA groups (LM, MOB etc) are set up closer to the date and shut down soon after. Anyone who wants to set the group up months in advance can be discouraged and, presumably, GDPR regs would restrict sharing of contact details for all attendees anyway.

PS - Catman - you can get a WA app for your laptop. Works perfectly nicely, too.
Define "young"
 

D Walker

Member
Messages
9,827
I did wonder, and they may not be on WA where the likes of DrewF, Parasiene, Fangio, StewartW et al had gone to..

I had some spurious WA activity which I removed myself from, indeed I have also removed myself from my ex colleagues group as I was fed up of reading a complete story every time I picked my phone up.

For info, I have my phone on silent and do not disturb at all times - tbh I have considered getting rid completely...

Edit - If you are not in my contacts - I don't answer the phone - If you want me you will leave a message.... and I block anyone who does not leave a message...
 
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Felonious Crud

Administrator
Staff member
Messages
21,017
For info, I have my phone on silent and do not disturb at all times - tbh I have considered getting rid completely...

Ditto. Fecking thing just rings and pings otherwise. Drives me nuts. I will not have my life ruled by other people. I call back and deal with emails etc. when I'm ready.
 

CatmanV2

Member
Messages
48,557
Edit - If you are not in my contacts - I don't answer the phone - If you want me you will leave a message.... and I block anyone who does not leave a message...

This! I mean how hard is it? Well it's not quite the case for me cos of what I do, but yes, there's pretty much a 2-3 strikes and you're out rule

C
 

Doohickey

Velociraptor
Messages
2,496
All I can suggest is that the "single-use" WA groups (LM, MOB etc) are set up closer to the date and shut down soon after. Anyone who wants to set the group up months in advance can be discouraged and, presumably, GDPR regs would restrict sharing of contact details for all attendees anyway.

Agree with this and the earlier note about the more risque and less car related discussions on WA. WA is great for communication on specific trips but probably should be shut down within a couple of weeks of return if we want to encourage people to post back on the forum. I have group notifications on silent to avoid the constant barrage - a good thing when certain members may have partaken of alcohol and you wake up to 70 odd posts of 'banter'!

Equally, the two things are pretty separate in my view. I look at the forum a few times a day and read the things I'm interested in. If I had a problem with the car this is the first place I'd come and it's great for starting to arrange events. Since you've got to be invited to WA groups that is by definition more exclusive.

Given that this is a public forum the filters prevent some of the stuff on WA being allowed on here (generally a good thing!) but other than the above, I'm not sure how you deal with getting people to post more here.

Out of interest, is there a noticeable drop in posts @conaero or is the shortfall being made up by newbies?
 

conaero

Forum Owner
Messages
34,594
I did wonder, and they may not be on WA where the likes of DrewF, Parasiene, Fangio, StewartW et al had gone to..

I had some spurious WA activity which I removed myself from, indeed I have also removed myself from my ex colleagues group as I was fed up of reading a complete story every time I picked my phone up.

For info, I have my phone on silent and do not disturb at all times - tbh I have considered getting rid completely...

Edit - If you are not in my contacts - I don't answer the phone - If you want me you will leave a message.... and I block anyone who does not leave a message...

Parisienne, still speak to him on occasion. He is a one make forum junkie (in a nice way) so when he sold his 4200 to follow a Lancia Aurelia route, his Maserati interest went with it too.

Drewf, again, speak to him on occasion but I do know, Like Parisienne, I believe his interest is more down a track competition route with the single seater he got into.

Fangio, no idea TBH

StuW, not sure again. He did have a 4 seater Strad and have spoken to him on occasion and gave no indication of any issue.

People just come and go...a fact of life I suppose.

I still speak to Loz once a month. He sold up and went to mine gold in Africa. Its pretty hairy what he tells me and I wouldn't go there. He does say he is nearing the end of his 5 year adventure and wants to get back into a Maz and this forum again. Loz would instantly regain his moderator status as he was the one who set this forum up in the first place with me.
 

dem maser

Moderator
Messages
34,221
I do think the WA chat has meant traffic on here slowing down and did mention this to you Matt in Le Mans about having to change things around a little

I dont see anything wrong with WA but for events and only then maybe set it up a week prior and take it down a week after?
WA is needed (especially abroad) for communication but there does seem to be a lot of these groups and most are not specifically for events.

I say have them but limit the time they get set up and taken down, just for events so we can talk to each other easier
 

BuckRog64

Member
Messages
334
Be careful about drawing too much WhatsApp traffic back to the forum. If too many topics are diverted via thread drift into group (a) banter about a recent get-together then group (b) will switch off. Assuming a key success factor for the forum is number of active members you don't want to alienate group (b).

I think having regional sections is an excellent idea. I know this is a forum and not a club but it would be a good way of more members getting to know each other. Discussions regarding regional meetings could be kept to that section of the forum in the same way as there are sections for Ace meetings etc. I might even come along if I ever buy a Maserati!
 

hunta

Member
Messages
405
First off I'll echo the sentiments expressed a number of times already on this thread. The depth of content and tone of contribution in this forum is remarkable and unlike any other I've experienced.

As a category 'b' relatively light contributor (lack of knowledge rather than willing) and not a member of any related WhatsApp groups, the clear distinction to me seems to sit with the knowledgebase aspect. A WA group for people who are mates is a wonderful thing. The only time it becomes a 'threat' to this forum is if there's pertinent information not making its way to these pages as a result.

A place for everything and everything in its place.

If WA is just being used for otherwise irrelevant chat I don't see the issue, except that means that people aren't visiting the forum and it is therefore losing out on their contribution to the knowledgebase. But to some degree that's inevitable. The key is getting good churn of traffic and knowledge transfer so that as people naturally find they don't need to check in so often there are others who are familiar with the subject matter.

So this could be seen as a need to drive up new members rather than having to retain old. Or there's always blackmail / bodily force.

'Sports Maserati - "You'll never leave..."'

:D
 

Corranga

Member
Messages
1,219
I've seen this happen with a few forums, and good to see a healthy discussion about it here before it really becomes a problem.

WA has it's place, and is, as others have said, is about groups who meet on forum and become friends IRL, via events, meets, runs etc. The problem is that over time, people perhaps move on and the groups dwindle, and by the time they realise, the forum is gone, so it's hard to make that group bigger again.

Time limiting WA groups for events is an idea, but will just lead to groups making their own WA groups to keep in touch, it won't improved the situation.
There is some irony in WA groups coming from events organised through the forum, and those on the forum but not the event not getting the insight into what the event was like...

Ok, so I'm about to go exactly opposite to what @BuckRog64 has just said, but perhaps that shows there is a need for balance...
Group (b) are already alienated by not being in the WA. I'd like to see photos and hear stories from MOB (for example) as I wasn't able to make it, but it might be something I'd do in future (though personally, the potential to be the 'new guy' is maybe too off-putting for something of that particular scale - you get the idea). He's right, if too much banter is there it adds to the problem.

Regional sections... This also runs the risk of making more small groups that set up more WA groups as you are creating areas where people likely to meet can hang out on forum, and excluding others (not by force, but by lack of interest) from those areas. I'm in Scotland, so myself and the dozen or so other Scots will frequent the Scotland regional area, but any discussion in, say, the South West England regional area will be lost to me.

Someone said there are 2 types of people, I think there is a 3rd. I'd love to be at more meets and events, but 2 things stand in my way. My location, being a fair bit away from most on here, and my social skills, I don't do the making friends thing too well.

Ok, that was probably too long a rant to end with...
I don't know what the answer is, but I commend you for investigating and I'm happy to help out, if in no other way, by continuing to post on here :)

P.S - not sure how you feel about this, but one community I saw virtually disappear in this was is ScottishElises - right from the start, the tag line was "You don't have to be Scottish or own an Elise to join."
Based on comments above, this is a place where people are interested in Maserati rather than specifically needing to own one right? Perhaps something to mention in discussion of meets (there might be already, but again I'm miles away, so avoid that discussion!)

Chris
 

Ebenezer

Member
Messages
4,445
I did wonder, and they may not be on WA where the likes of DrewF, Parasiene, Fangio, StewartW et al had gone to..

...

If you're referring to Fangio63- he's alive and about to play a gig in a dodgy club with the rest of his "old school" band mates!
Eb
 

zagatoes30

Member
Messages
20,764
Ok, so I'm about to go exactly opposite to what @BuckRog64 I'd like to see photos and hear stories from MOB (for example) as I wasn't able to make it, but it might be something I'd do in future (though personally, the potential to be the 'new guy' is maybe too off-putting for something of that particular scale - you get the idea).

There is no problem being the new guy, the (a) group aren't that bad (although they have been known to push boundaries), I occasionally meet up at the Ace or Le Mans and have always been made to feel welcome. I quite like the fact that I know the faces behind the characters on here. In my case the intro was sort of helped by buying my Spyder from Matt and first seeing it at the Ace.

I have made many friends through car club activities, our Le Mans crew is primarily a bunch of Alfa owners and I was even introduced to my wife through a car club.

The idea of local meets is good, a drive out on a Sunday to a pub for a drink and a natter always goes down well, although the last Northampton event I went on it p155ed it down from start to finish fortunately the bar was warm and the food was good.

Like everything the more you put in the more you get out, this is a great forum and the fact that we can discuss these things in the open is proof of that.
 

TridentTested

Member
Messages
1,819
I would like to throw it out there to the forum for any suggestions on how we can keep the community closer together and not see it ebb away in splinter groups.

I feel your pain.

I am involved in a small start-up comprising a disparate group of people trying to come together to create new service. We did our initial pitching and chatting over WhatsApp before we even met each other and then I set up a Discourse forum to make this a bit more formal so we could have an easily searchable record of decisions and progress and to-do lists.

But the group keeps disintegrating into private WhatsApp chat, so much so I'm wondering should I be doing business with these guys.

I guess these background whispers always existed in any social group - WhatsApp has turbo-charged them.

I would say this forum is great. Just keep plugging away. It's a terrific online resource for all things Maserati. If some users prefer to splinter off into their own private conversations, don't worry, others will fill the void.
 

Mattp

Member
Messages
501
interesting idea to have an open debate about this, I didnt have any idea of the secret world of Maserati whatsapp till you mentioned it before.

like most people, I have whatsapp groups that I am a part of (SM isnt one of them), but I do enjoy the way the forum works. whatsapp is for mates/friends/etc or organising a get-together or trip. On a large scale it just gets a bit overwhelming and I for one dont think I would enjoy it if the forum went more that way... Ive only been a member for about a year, and I have noticed that the number of forum contributions has dwindled somewhat, so it would be nice to entice people back.
 

conaero

Forum Owner
Messages
34,594
Ive only been a member for about a year, and I have noticed that the number of forum contributions has dwindled somewhat, so it would be nice to entice people back.

Not so actually. Member login is actually up as is the posting since the launch of the new forum...after a couple of months during the transition where I would agree with you.

We used to get about 140 members a week contributing, now its up around 175 on average (you can see this by clicking the see all link at the bottom of the league table.) Posting is up to circa 185 average, again, up on this time last year and trading nicely. I think its possible the lack of those WA users that is making it feel quieter when it is not.

As for visitors (as seen in the who's online at the bottom of the home page) is high too. Its around 50-75 (mornings and evenings are busiest) and this is only a rolling 60 mins where the old forum was a similar number on a 120 rolling minutes.

The stats are very good.

stats.jpeg
 

Goodfella

Member
Messages
735
a lot of the the regular members don't post so much on here anymore.

I feel that this is because they can post, shall we say, more adult stuff

Have you considered an "adult stuff ect" section on the forum, in which you would have to ask yourself to be added? If you're not added you don't see the section.

Although I fully appreciate that.... A) This is not the direction you would want to take the forum in. B) I'm a <100 post new chap.